Saturday, October 25
Pittsburgh, PA
3:30 p.m.
NC State
at
Pittsburgh
NC State Football Takes Trip to Pittsburgh
10/24/2025 11:00:00 AM | Football
RALEIGH, N.C. – NC State Football returns to ACC play when it travels to Pittsburgh to take on the Pitt Panthers on Saturday, Oct. 25th, from Acrisure Stadium at 3:30 on ACC Network.
This will mark only the 12th meeting ever between NC State and Pitt and the third between the two squads as ACC rivals (the Panthers joined the ACC in 2013 and the two teams played in 2017 and 2020) NC State has won each of the last three contests, a 30-29 victory over the 20th ranked Panthers at Pitt in 2020, a 35-17 win at Pitt in 2017 and a 38-31 home victory in 2009.
NC State will face the Panthers at Acrisure Stadium - formerly known as Heinz Field - this week, which also doubles as the home of the NFL's six-time Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers. The site has been a successful one for the Wolfpack under head coach Dave Doeren, as NC State has come away with victories in both games played there during his tenure. This will mark the fifth 'away' game the Wolfpack has played on an NFL field under Doeren, and his squad has posted a 3-1 mark in those previous contests. The Pack has played two neutral-site regular-season games in Charlotte's Bank of America Stadium since 2014 and four bowl games on NFL fields.
Linebacker and team captain Caden Fordham currently leads the ACC and ranks ninth in the FBS in tackles with an average of 9.9 per game. That's the best mark among Power 4 linebackers in 2025. He has led or tied the team in tackles five times this season and has four double-figure tackle outputs in seven games in 2025. His 15 stops versus Virginia Tech were a career high.
The Wolfpack currently ranks fourth in the ACC in both red zone offense and red zone defense (28th and 27th in FBS, respectively). The offense has scored 92% of the time it's entered the zone, and the opponent has managed just 77%. Against Notre Dame, NC State didn't enter the red zone on offense. That hadn't happened since a 34-0 loss at Florida State on Oct. 29, 2011.
Graduate student Caden Noonkester has been a sneaky weapon for the Wolfpack, starting the last 37 games at punter. That's the longest starting streak on the 2025 Wolfpack squad. His 45.8-yard punting average ranks second in the ACC (19th in the FBS). Noonkester boasts the third-best career punt average in school history (43.4 ypp). His 175 career boots rank sixth in the record book, while his 7,597 yards are also the seventh-best mark ever for a Pack punter.
One of the points of emphasis for NC State football heading into 2025 was to come out of the gates stronger. NC State outscored the opposition 155-85 in the fourth quarter last season but was outscored 307-216 in the first three quarters. This season, the Pack has reversed that trend, outscoring the opposition 186-148 in the first three periods, but being outscored 38-24 in the fourth.
Hollywood Smothers. The redshirt sophomore leads the ACC in rushing with 739 yards - the sixth-best mark in the FBS. His 105.6 yards per game is also the best in the league (ninth nationally) and is 12.3 yards per game better than any other ACC player. Just 18 games into his NC State career, Smothers already ranks eighth in NC State history in career rushing yards per game with 72.8, while his career 6.5 yards per carry.
Not only is CJ Bailey piling up the passing yardage, but his throws have been accurate- particularly in 2025 The Miami native has connected on 72% of his throws this season, the second-best mark in the ACC and the No. 9 mark in the FBS. To put that in perspective, the school record for season completion percentage is .721 by Philip Rivers in 2003 (before Bailey was born). For his career, Bailey boasts a .679 completion mark. The school record for career completion percentage is .645, set by Ryan Finley (2016-18).
In two of its seven games this season, NC State was down at the half (10 points vs. Virginia and seven vs. Wake Forest) and came back to win the contest. It marked the first time since 2014 that the Wolfpack won games in back-to-back weeks after being down at the half (17-3 to Georgia Southern and 21-18 to Old Dominion). In the playoff era, only three ACC teams have won back-to-back games after trailing by seven or more points at the break. Miami did it in 2024 vs. Virginia Tech, and Cal and BC did it last year vs. Michigan State and Western Kentucky.
This will mark only the 12th meeting ever between NC State and Pitt and the third between the two squads as ACC rivals (the Panthers joined the ACC in 2013 and the two teams played in 2017 and 2020) NC State has won each of the last three contests, a 30-29 victory over the 20th ranked Panthers at Pitt in 2020, a 35-17 win at Pitt in 2017 and a 38-31 home victory in 2009.
NC State will face the Panthers at Acrisure Stadium - formerly known as Heinz Field - this week, which also doubles as the home of the NFL's six-time Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers. The site has been a successful one for the Wolfpack under head coach Dave Doeren, as NC State has come away with victories in both games played there during his tenure. This will mark the fifth 'away' game the Wolfpack has played on an NFL field under Doeren, and his squad has posted a 3-1 mark in those previous contests. The Pack has played two neutral-site regular-season games in Charlotte's Bank of America Stadium since 2014 and four bowl games on NFL fields.
Linebacker and team captain Caden Fordham currently leads the ACC and ranks ninth in the FBS in tackles with an average of 9.9 per game. That's the best mark among Power 4 linebackers in 2025. He has led or tied the team in tackles five times this season and has four double-figure tackle outputs in seven games in 2025. His 15 stops versus Virginia Tech were a career high.
The Wolfpack currently ranks fourth in the ACC in both red zone offense and red zone defense (28th and 27th in FBS, respectively). The offense has scored 92% of the time it's entered the zone, and the opponent has managed just 77%. Against Notre Dame, NC State didn't enter the red zone on offense. That hadn't happened since a 34-0 loss at Florida State on Oct. 29, 2011.
Graduate student Caden Noonkester has been a sneaky weapon for the Wolfpack, starting the last 37 games at punter. That's the longest starting streak on the 2025 Wolfpack squad. His 45.8-yard punting average ranks second in the ACC (19th in the FBS). Noonkester boasts the third-best career punt average in school history (43.4 ypp). His 175 career boots rank sixth in the record book, while his 7,597 yards are also the seventh-best mark ever for a Pack punter.
One of the points of emphasis for NC State football heading into 2025 was to come out of the gates stronger. NC State outscored the opposition 155-85 in the fourth quarter last season but was outscored 307-216 in the first three quarters. This season, the Pack has reversed that trend, outscoring the opposition 186-148 in the first three periods, but being outscored 38-24 in the fourth.
Hollywood Smothers. The redshirt sophomore leads the ACC in rushing with 739 yards - the sixth-best mark in the FBS. His 105.6 yards per game is also the best in the league (ninth nationally) and is 12.3 yards per game better than any other ACC player. Just 18 games into his NC State career, Smothers already ranks eighth in NC State history in career rushing yards per game with 72.8, while his career 6.5 yards per carry.
Not only is CJ Bailey piling up the passing yardage, but his throws have been accurate- particularly in 2025 The Miami native has connected on 72% of his throws this season, the second-best mark in the ACC and the No. 9 mark in the FBS. To put that in perspective, the school record for season completion percentage is .721 by Philip Rivers in 2003 (before Bailey was born). For his career, Bailey boasts a .679 completion mark. The school record for career completion percentage is .645, set by Ryan Finley (2016-18).
In two of its seven games this season, NC State was down at the half (10 points vs. Virginia and seven vs. Wake Forest) and came back to win the contest. It marked the first time since 2014 that the Wolfpack won games in back-to-back weeks after being down at the half (17-3 to Georgia Southern and 21-18 to Old Dominion). In the playoff era, only three ACC teams have won back-to-back games after trailing by seven or more points at the break. Miami did it in 2024 vs. Virginia Tech, and Cal and BC did it last year vs. Michigan State and Western Kentucky.
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